Chapter 46
Reed
She was in my arms. I had both of my girls in my arms, and nothing had ever felt more right. Abi righted my world with one little phrase. Cienna loved me, and, fuck’s sake, I loved her.
Hopelessly. Intensely. So deeply.
As I scouted around the room, catching a few whispers and side-eyes, Cici’s focus didn’t wander from our moment here on the dance floor.
Not even once. When the song ended, I panicked, worried it was over.
That the magical moment would be fleeting once Cici saw the attention from those around us.
But instead, she attached herself to my side, letting me escort her off the dance floor, one arm wrapped around her and the other reaching down to hold Abi’s hand.
We walked around thanking our volunteers and checking in with our cleanup committee. And I could finally fucking breathe again having her with me, with no sign of her letting go.
When it was time to leave, we walked to my van. Abigail was slung on my shoulders for a piggyback ride, and Cici’s hand was tucked in mine, swinging our arms back and forth happily. Before I could even ask, Cici tilted her head to me and Abi. “Dinner?”
Abigail wiggled down from my shoulders and bounced. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Not sure if her excitement stemmed from hunger or her need for us to be together. It’d only been a few days away from each other, but it felt like eternity.
If Cici asked to get in the car and drive across the country right now, the answer would be yes. Which was why I couldn’t be chill in any way, shape, or form when answering, “Absolutely, pick the place.”
I didn’t miss the little dip of her tongue on her lower lip.
The hunger in her eyes couldn’t be sated at a restaurant.
I mean, it could be… Suddenly, I was standing in a school parking lot, picturing the different ways we could make sex happen in a diner booth.
Luckily, a little tug on my shirt brought me back from that train of thought quickly.
“Can we go to Rudolph’s? Gracie and Lacey are going there!”
I looked up to Cici, expecting hesitancy since the girls were both her students. But I was met with a warm smile and a nod. “Let’s do it!”
When we got home from the diner, my two lovely ladies were already making demands at me before we even entered the house. Abi wanted to watch Super Kitties. Cici wanted coffee. As we shuffled through the door, negotiations commenced.
“Abigail, shower first, then one episode of Super Kitties.” She raced to the bathroom, singing “Super Kitties, meeee-yow.”
“How about decaf?” I coaxed Cici into the kitchen with a rub of her shoulders, barely having been able to keep my hands off her the entire night.
And the best part, she didn’t flinch. We were like two pieces of Velcro, attached no matter if a parent stopped by to chat, or a child joined Abi at our table.
“There is a time and place for decaf,” she groaned.
“Oh yeah, what’s that?”
“Never.” She smirked. “And in the trash.”
I chuckled and flipped on the new Keurig, thankful I hadn’t returned it the moment it was delivered.
After digging around for her favorite flavor, she popped a K-Cup in the machine. We embraced and swayed to the sound of her very caffeinated coffee dripping behind us. “You’re not worried about not being able to sleep?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t plan on sleeping anytime soon.” With a wink, she grabbed her coffee. Her grin was devious behind her mug, and suddenly, I was an insomniac. Happily destined to stay awake with her for days on end.
But first. Super Kitties. Ugh. The sooner we got this episode over, the sooner we’d get to bedtime. Then it hit me. “Abigail hasn’t come out yet?”
“I’ll go get her,” Cici volunteered. A moment later, she called down the hall, “Reed, come see this.”
I peeked into Abi’s bedroom. My Energizer Bunny niece was fast asleep, half strewn across her bed, in her pajamas, hair wet and wild, and her necklace tucked in her hand as if her special night wasn’t over until she put it away.
Cici guided her under the covers, tucking Cheeto under her arm, and carefully drew the string of pearls from Abi’s hand.
She stroked a tender hand across Abi’s cheek and tucked a wild curl behind her ear, and it was as if that touch was also tracing along the breaks in my heart, soothing pain away.
This moment would play on the loop of my happiest memories.
Looking back up to me with tears glistening in her eyes, her words sucked the air from my lungs. “I love you.” And before I could utter a single word, she rubbed her hands through Abi’s hair and added, “And I love her. So very much.”
She met me at the doorway, and a tear slipped down her cheek before I could catch it, but I reached my hand out and rubbed it away. I couldn’t stand another tear from this beautiful woman. “I love you too. So very much.”
Stepping out of the room, I flicked off the light, with one last look at the sleeping girl who had become the center of my world.
The center of our world. But instead of heading back to the living room, I led Cici to my bedroom.
If she thought there was any chance she’d be sleeping somewhere else tonight, she was wrong.
We sat next to each other on my bed, hands connected, a moment of content silence stretching between us. She leaned into me and tilted her head, nudging my chin with her nose. Almost inaudibly, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Reed.”
The sweet scent of vanilla wafted into my nostrils as I kissed the top of her head, sending a shot of desire through my body.
I so badly wanted to tell her it was okay, that we were fine, but she had more to say, and as much as I wanted this blip between us to be over, I needed to hear it too before our passion eclipsed the hurt.
She kept her cheek in the crook of my neck as she spoke, her lashes fluttering and tickling my skin. “Sometimes I tunnel vision my way through life. Then I don’t have to see the hard stuff. I can just focus on that one single thing that I can tackle. My grandmother was everything…”
I laid us back and rolled to my side, holding her to me. My heart clenched in my chest as she blinked away tears.
“If it weren’t for her, I don’t know who I’d be, so my whole life, I’ve strived to be like her.
And in the last few days, I was reminded that she was more than an amazing teacher.
She was a mother to me, the only family I had, and she would be just as proud of me finding that happiness for myself as she would be seeing me lead her school. ”
More tears fell, cascading down her cheeks faster than I could wipe them away, so I settled for kissing her nose as I nodded.
“You, Reed. You are that happiness for me.” She pursed her lips, trying so hard to be strong and let the words out.
“You and Abi. And I know there is so much in the air and so much changing, and she has to be the priority. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
But if you’ll have me, I’ll be here. This feels like where I belong. With you… both…”
The urge to finish that thought for her rippled through me, but there was no rush, and as much as it was “too soon” to know, I knew. Cici melted into me as I cupped her cheek and kissed her lips, watching her lashes flutter down. “You do belong here. You’re mine, Cici. You’re ours.” Forever.
Unable to wait one second longer to feel her body under me, I crawled over her. So soft and pliable. So mine.
With a loss of control more overwhelming than I’d ever felt, I tugged and pulled and yanked at her clothes, and mine, until our skin connected.
The bed dipped as I sat up to admire her, her dress pulled down, showing her plump tits nearly falling out of her lace bra.
She reached for my shirtless chest and rubbed her hands down to my navel and further, tucking her hands in the waistband of my pants.
Moving my hands up her velvety thighs, I hit her panties and groaned, wanting to yank them down and duck under her dress to show her how much I missed the taste of her.
In all honesty, I wanted to tear the whole freaking dress off and cover every inch of her skin with…
me. Her hand dug deeper into the front of my pants.
God, I wanted her so badly, right here, right now, but somehow, in the back of my mind, I still remembered there was a child in the house.
One who often got up for water or some other excuse to escape her bed.
Cici must have had the same thought as I did, because she closed her eyes with a sigh, pulled her hands from my pants, and covered her face. “We can’t. She’s right down there.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, and sat back on my knees, looking down at her one last time, in this perfect position—under me, ready for me. I grabbed her hands to help her sit up. “How quiet can you be?”
She giggled and smacked my side.
We sat quietly for a moment, and I could practically hear the gears turning in her head, the same as mine. “I can be quiet,” she finally whispered, conviction and mischief in her tone.
That was all I needed. Legs already tangled, Cici lifted her head and peeked toward the hall. “Should we close the door?”
Fuck. Why was this so hard? How were second children even made if parents couldn’t have sex with children in the house?
I’d never closed the door before, but I supposed we’d still hear, though hopefully she couldn’t hear us.
If I had it my way, it was about to get loud as fuck in here, but quiet, it would be.
Before Cici could rethink the plan, I was lunging off the bed, shutting the door, grabbing condoms from the drawer, and flinging them on the bed. “We’ll need at least one of those,” I said with a growl as I climbed back on top of Cici, bracketing her with my arms and holding myself above her.